Preliminary evaluation of pinacidil in hypertension

In a balanced single-blind placebo controlled study in six hypertensive patients treated with diuretic and beta-adrenoceptor blocker, a single oral dose of 10 mg pinacidil lowered blood pressure significantly, by a maximum of 26/13 mm Hg lying and 15/12 mm Hg standing at 3 h. The duration of action was less than 6 h. Chronic treatment of four patients (mean dose 20 mg twice daily for 3--7 weeks) lowered blood pressure by only 15/7 mm Hg. All four patients experienced side-effects of the type often observed during treatment with potent vasodilators. In the formulation studied pinacidil is unlikely to offer any advantage over the antihypertensive drugs currently available.